Bulgaria - Day 6

After early breakfast we headed in the minibus back to the same car park at the Vihren hut.

The aim today was to climb Vihren, the highest peak in the Pirin mountains. The path at first was steep and rocky, then flattened a bit to go over grassy meadows.

As we got higher we could see Balkan Chamois (mountain goats) on the snow patches.

We had to cross bit that was quite challenging.

Then a snow patch.

In the Golem Kazan (Giant Cauldron) area we stopped in a shelter for a break.

We came across some more mountain goats.

We then got up to a pass just before the final ascent.

The last 100m or so of ascent had a chain to assist us.

Finally we made it to the top, 2914m.

We went down by a different route, a long rocky descent from the summit, before having a rest overlooking some lakes.

There was still a long way to go down...

Finally we made it back to the hut for a welcome beer.

That night we went out to a different local restaurant. The main course was a meat overload, a mixed grill and other pork and chicken dishes.